1962 Belgian Grand Prix

  1962 Belgian Grand Prix

Race details
Race 3 of 9 in the 1962 Formula One season
Date	17 June 1962
Official name	XXII Grote Prijs van Belgie
Location	Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps Spa, Belgium
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	14.100 km (8.761 mi)
Distance	32 laps, 451.200 km (280.363 mi)
Weather	Sunny
Pole position
Driver	Graham Hill	BRM
Time	3:57.0
Fastest lap
Driver	Jim Clark	Lotus-Climax
Time	3:55.6 on lap 15
Podium
First	Jim Clark	Lotus-Climax
Second	Graham Hill	BRM
Third	Phil Hill	Ferrari

The 1962 Belgian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Spa-Francorchamps on 17 June 1962. This race was notable for being the first grand prix win for Jim Clark, and the first of four consecutive victories at Spa for the Scotsman (despite thoroughly disliking the circuit) and Team Lotus. It was also the first win for the famous Lotus 25, and the beginning of the famous 6-year-long rivalry between Clark and Graham Hill.

Classification

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	16	Jim Clark	Lotus-Climax	32	2:07:32.3	12	9
2	1	Graham Hill	BRM	32	+ 44.1	1	6
3	9	Phil Hill	Ferrari	32	+ 2:06.5	4	4
4	12	Ricardo Rodriguez	Ferrari	32	+ 2:06.6	7	3
5	5	John Surtees	Lola-Climax	31	+ 1 Lap	11	2
6	15	Jack Brabham	Lotus-Climax	30	+ 2 Laps	15	1
7	7	Carel Godin de Beaufort	Porsche	30	+ 2 Laps	13
8	18	Maurice Trintignant	Lotus-Climax	30	+ 2 Laps	16
9	19	Lucien Bianchi	Lotus-Climax	29	+ 3 Laps	18
10	22	Jo Siffert	Lotus-Climax	29	+ 3 Laps	17
11	4	John Campbell-Jones	Lotus-Climax	16	+ 16 Laps	19
Ret	17	Trevor Taylor	Lotus-Climax	25	Accident	3
Ret	10	Willy Mairesse	Ferrari	25	Accident	6
Ret	2	Richie Ginther	BRM	22	Gearbox	9
Ret	26	Tony Maggs	Cooper-Climax	22	Gearbox	10
Ret	25	Bruce McLaren	Cooper-Climax	19	Wheel bearing	2
Ret	21	Masten Gregory	Lotus-BRM	13	Withdrew	8
Ret	20	Innes Ireland	Lotus-Climax	8	Suspension	5
Ret	11	Giancarlo Baghetti	Ferrari	3	Ignition	14
DNS	23	Dan Gurney	Lotus-BRM		Seidel's car — unraceworthy
WD	3	Tony Marsh	BRM		Car not ready
WD	4	Jackie Lewis	BRM
WD	4	Gerry Ashmore	BRM
WD	6	Roy Salvadori	Lola-Climax
WD	8	Heinz Schiller	Porsche
WD	24	Jo Bonnier	Porsche
Source:[1]

• Dan Gurney practiced in a Lotus-BRM owned by Wolfgang Seidel, but after a few laps he deemed the car unraceworthy. Gurney was also entered by the works Porsche team, along with Jo Bonnier, but the team withdrew after the factory was hit by strike action.
• The #4 entry was originally allocated to Lewis, then to Ashmore on Lewis' withdrawal. After Ashmore also withdrew, the slot was filled by John Campbell-Jones.
• Lucien Bianchi was originally entered as #14, in a Porsche prepared by Scuderia SSS Republica di Venezia, but withdrew. He later took #19 and drove Equipe National Belge's Lotus.

Notes

• Ricardo Rodriguez became the youngest driver to score championship points (20 years, 123 days), a record which stood for 38 years before Jenson Button, aged 20 years, 67 days, broke it at the 2000 Brazilian Grand Prix.
• Last podium for Phil Hill.
• Trevor Taylor and Willy Mairesse were fighting for 2nd place until the 2 cars touched, crashed into a ditch and Mairesse's car landed upside down and caught fire. Both drivers were thrown out of their cars, but were unhurt.
• First Belgian Grand Prix to allocate odd numbers to vehicles.
• First win for a car with a monocoque.

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Graham Hill 16 2 Phil Hill 14 11 3 Jim Clark 9 1 4 Bruce McLaren 9 1 5 Trevor Taylor 6

Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 1 BRM 16 2 2 Lotus-Climax 15 3 Ferrari 14 3 4 Cooper-Climax 11 5 Lola-Climax 5

• Notes: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

References